California's Largest Reservoir Nears 7-Year Milestone as Water Levels Rise

Water levels at Lake Shasta have climbed significantly over the past 10 days, spurring hopes that California's largest reservoir could hit a milestone it hasn't seen for seven years: dam spillover.

After years of drought, the lake's water levels reached near capacity last year following an abnormally wet winter. Water levels steadily declined throughout the fall but have since started to rise again after a series of atmospheric rivers dumped excessive rain in the area. The levels have risen 12 feet since January 19 and might continue to climb this week after another storm arrives on Wednesday.

Despite the lake's recovery, officials haven't needed to open the dam's spillway since 2017.

Now, at just over 1,028 feet, Lake Shasta's water levels are more than 40 feet higher than this time last year. However, the last measurement was taken on January 24, meaning the water levels could be even higher as of Monday.

Lake levels peaked last year at 1,064 feet in late May, 3 feet below full pool, before beginning a steady decline throughout the summer. Levels began slowly rising again in December before they experienced the steep jump in the last few weeks.

If the lake rises by another 39 feet, it will reach full capacity. The gates at Shasta Dam have been raised to prevent any spillover, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) officials don't expect the spillway to be breached, KRCR-TV reported.

"We still have room in the reservoir for flood control," Don Bader, USBR area manager, said in the report. "So we still have another 10 feet of room that we can have more storms come in before we would start flood operations."

USBR spokesperson Mary Lee Garrison-Knecht told Newsweek that beginning on Tuesday, the USBR will increase releases "at Shasta and its regulating reservoir...for storage management."

Bader said he is being conservative with any speculation about how much the water levels will rise because precipitation isn't consistent in the winter, even though the lake looks good right now.

However, others cling to hope that the lake will keep rising.

"Lake Shasta 3/4 full. Confidence builds that reservoir will fill up this year," a social media user posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "The water level in the lake is up 12' in just over a week, bringing it under 10' from where officials will start increasing flows from the dam."

The incoming atmospheric river is expected to hit northwestern California by midweek and move down the coast throughout the rest of the week. Forecasts predict that there will be widespread rain of at least 1 inch in much of California, but predictions are still uncertain given that the storm won't arrive until Wednesday.